Cooling garment

ABSTRACT

A cooling apparatus for personal or general use is disclosed having interior and exterior surfaces and a fluid for dispersion by the exterior surface. The interior surface prevents the fluid from penetrating the interior surface and contacting the person or object to be cooled. The cooling apparatus may also include a fluid collector to collect excess cooling fluid, a device for moving the fluid from the fluid container to the fluid collector, and a return line for recycling at least a portion of the collected fluid. The exterior surface may be wetted by gravity seepage, capillary action, or the like. A band extending around each collector can aid in preventing the fluid from dripping from the apparatus.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/590,793,filed 1 Oct. 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,336.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to providing around the human body a contactingheat sink to absorb heat created by that body and thus cool the bodydown. In particular it relates to a special garment which is capable ofbeing worn by a living body, and by evaporation of the fluid on itsouter surface, it extracts body heat through a thin waterproof liningmaterial present between the body and an outer--exposed to theair--liquid holding material, which is kept wet. For the sake ofsimplicity, the invention will be referred to as cooling garment.

BACKGROUND

Due to the inclination of 23.5 degrees of the Earth's rotation axis, thetemperature of the air around us is varied from season to season throughout the year, while the body temperature is at almost a constant one ofabout 37 degrees Celsius. When the air temperature increases to 28degrees Celsius, we feel uncomfortably warm and start sweating. So thebody needs the temperature of the medium next to its skin to be at least9 degrees Celsius lower, to allow heat created by combustion inside thelungs to be transferred out of the body, or the process known to us ascooling down of ourselves. When the temperature of the air rises above28 degrees Celsius the body excretes sweat through the surface of theskin to allow evaporation of the sweat. The latent heat of evaporationobtained from the body is used in changing the sweat from a liquid stateto a vapour state thus allowing a second method of extracting heat fromthe body. When the air temperature increases further and even over thebody temperature of 37 degrees celsius, e.g. 40 degrees, the firstmethod of heat transfer ceases to exist and the heat, from the air,enters the body instead of exits from the body to the air. The bodytemperature thus increases to more than 37 degrees Celsius andautomatically we fan ourselves. This is a third method of cooling ourbodies down--increasing the air velocity passing over the wet skin tospeed up the evaporation so that evaporation will release more heat fromour bodies. This invention provides the means to do the sweating for ourbody and considerably cools the body. When other inventions, i.e. "roomair control apparatus " and/or "localized air conditioning", are/is usedin association with this cooling garment, the cooling increases manytimes and is ideal to cool the body during the hot seasons. The energysaving when compared with conventional refrigerating air conditioning isvery great e.g. more than 2,000% in some cases. This also results inbetter health for the user of this or these invention/s, because thereis a possibility to introduce 100% fresh air to the body all the timecompared to the conventional system where stale air is recirculated withsome small percentage of fresh air injected into the room being airconditioned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objectives of this invention are to provide a cooling garment thathas a liquid holding material on its outside for the purpose ofachieving the evaporation of the liquid on its surface thereby reducingits temperature. Waterproof material on the inside prevents the bodyfrom being wet, but maintains close contact with the body or clothingworn over the body to extract heat from the body and to use such heat inits latent form to evaporate the liquid on the outside of the coolinggarment. The invention also allows the wearer to replenish the liquid onthe wet side of the cooling garment before the wet side dries up, aswell as to maintain an even distribution of liquid over the wet surface.Also it aims to have a suitable liquid container of maximum-sizepossible to reduce the frequency of refilling as well as to have asuitable liquid collector to collect the liquid at the bottom of thecooling garment. The collected liquid can then be pumped either manuallyor automatically back to the liquid container. Alternatively checkvalve/s can be used in place of the pump by reversing the positions ofthe container and collector to allow the liquid to reverse its flowunder gravity back to the container from the collector. Also it aims tohave the flexibility of attaching or detaching other cooling garment orportion/s of the cooling garment to the main cooling garment or to otherpart of the body such as leg/s, arm/s, foot/feet, hand/s or head etc.

Briefly described, the aforementioned objects are accomplished accordingto the present invention by providing a portable personal coolingapparatus comprising at least one exterior surface of fibrous materialhaving a fluid holding capacity sufficient to allow continuousevaporation of a fluid; at least one interior surface of waterproofmaterial adapted to avoid wetting of an object to be cooled from a fluidon the exterior surface; and at least one fluid container disposed at anend of said surfaces including means for distributing the fluid to thefibrous material.

With the foregoing and other objects, advantages, and features of theinvention which will become hereinafter apparent, the nature of theinvention may be more clearly understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of the invention, the appended claims, and to theseveral views illustrated in the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The invention will now be described with reference to preferredembodiments as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a cooling garment in accordance withthe invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of the liquid systems of the frontportions of the jacket and the back portion of the jacket.

FIG. 3 is a detailed drawing showing how the liquid is collected at theliquid collector.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the application of the cooling garmentor cooling patch to the back of the chair to create another source ofheat sink as well as protect the back of the chair from being wet.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the application of the cooling garmentto cool the ice box.

FIG. 6 illustrates side feed of fluid from a fluid distribution line.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, the jacket back portion 1, jacket front portions 2,attachable/detachable sleeves 3, leg garments 19 and small multilocationgarment 20 are shown.

For jacket back portion 1, the components consist of: the outsidesurface made of fabric or felt materials (not shown in FIG. 1 but shownas 31 in FIG. 3), inside surface made of waterproof materials (not shownin FIG. 1 but shown in FIG. 3 as 32), the liquid container 4 havingrefilling neck with liquid tight cap 6, liquid collector 8 having thesuction line 22 of pump 12 (or check valve) connected to it (shownpassing inside liquid collector 10 of the jacket front portion 2 withoutcommunicating with the liquid in liquid collector 10 see also FIG. 2),pump 12 (or if a checkvalve is used to return the liquid in the liquidcollector to the liquid container, the jacket must be turned upsidedown) having a discharge line connected to the liquid container 4 withcheck valve/s to prevent the liquid in the liquid container from flowingback to the collector, the distribution lines 13, the body sidewaterproof material 18 (visible at the side seams where the felt orfabric materials of the front are separated from the back to prevent theliquid on both sides from seeping across to each other if it is desiredto have the front side wet while keeping the back side dry or viceversa) and the outside felt or fabric material 31 (shown in FIGS. 3 and6) which protrudes inside the liquid container, liquid collector anddistribution lines so that the liquid from the liquid collector 4 andliquid distribution lines 13 (shown in FIG. 2) can seep through to thefabric or felt via one or more sides of the distribution lines 13 andfrom where such liquid seeps through the fabric or felt to the liquidcollector.

For front jacket portions 2, the components are the same as the backjacket portion. The liquid container 5, liquid collectors 9 and 10 areseparated from liquid container 4 and liquid collector 8 of the backjacket portion. The liquid collectors 9 and 10 are joined together by aline 23 between them (shown in FIG. 2) so that the liquid can betransported to liquid container 5 through the pump 11 (or check valve)drawing the liquid from both liquid collectors 9 and 10. Othercomponents are the refilling neck and liquid tight cap 7 and liquiddistribution lines 13.

For sleeves 3, the components are the same as those of the back portionof the jacket 1 and front portions of the jacket 2 except that pumps arereplaced by check valves 17 and liquid can be transported from theliquid collectors 16 to the liquid containers 14 through the checkvalves 17 by the wearer raising his arms above shoulder height andletting gravity do its duty. The sleeves 3 are attachable/detachableto/from the jacket by any type of fastening mechanism preferred such asbuttons and holes, zippers, tiny hooks and eyes of wool like materialsetc. The other components are refilling neck and liquid tight cap 15 anddistribution lines 13. The sleeves 3 can be transformed from cylindricalform to flat pieces of cooling garments by means of zippers 21 and canbe used at other parts of the body such as legs etc. The underneathportions of the sleeves between the hands and elbows can be made withoutthe felt or fabric so they will not be wet and wearer's forearms cancome into contact with items such as table or paper on the table withoutwetting such items.

For leg garments 19 and flat cooling garment 20, the components are thesame as the components of the front and back portions of the jacket.Thus they consist of the outside surface made of fabric or feltmaterials (not shown in FIG. 1 but shown in FIG. 3 as 31), the insidesurface made of waterproof materials (not shown in FIG. 1 but shown inFIG. 3 as 32), the liquid containers 5 with refilling necks and theliquid tight caps 7, the liquid collectors 9, the pumps or check valves11 (1not shown in case of left leg garment) and the liquid distributorlines 13.

For all variations of the cooling garment, the working principle is thesame. First the liquid container is filled with liquid and the capsecured. Then the liquid flows and disperses itself through the fabricor felt materials adjacent to the container and liquid distributionlines. The excess liquid which does not evaporate would gather at thebottom portion of the garment and drip away, wetting the clothing of thewearer if there were no liquid collector at the bottom. When the liquidis collected in sufficient quantity in the liquid collector, it ispumped back to the liquid container by squeezing the pump by hand or itis pumped automatically by a battery operated pump.

The evaporation of the liquid on the felt or fabric material willextract heat from the body of the wearer, thereby cooling him/her. Whenthe wearer sits or stands in a place where there is wind blowing e.g.under a ceiling fan or near a standing fan, the rate of evaporationincreases many times and the cooling process is maximised. To regulatethe coolness, a higher wind velocity increases coolness, oralternatively the number of operating portion/s of the cooling garmentcan be increased or decreased or alternatively the liquid container onsome piece/s of the garment can be left dry for warmer.

In FIG. 3, a detailed drawing of the liquid collector 9 is shown, withthe outside wall 34, forming a band, the outside wall being higher upfrom the liquid collector body 9 to prevent over flowing of the liquidat the bottom of the fabric or felt materials where the concentration ofthe liquid will be highest and may exceed the holding ability of thefabric or felt materials so that dripping would occur if there were nooutside wall. A row of stays 33 hold outside wall 34 to the insidewaterproof lining materials 32 with the fabric or felt materials 31 inbetween. The liquid will drip through the felt or fabric materials 36protruding inside the liquid collector 9. Seeping materials 37 may beemployed to promote the liquid transfer from the felt or fabricmaterials to the liquid collector or vice versa in the case of thetransfer from the liquid container to the felt or fabric materials.

In FIG. 4, a chair 40 having a backrest 41 covered by a cooling garment42 where the evaporative surfaces are on both sides of the back rest asshown. The back rest 41 (including the seat) may be filled with liquidto have a greater heat sink capacity that the cooling garmentcontinuously produces and intermittently used when the user leansagainst the backrest 41. The heat trapped at the seat can be carriedaway to the cooling garment and exchanged there. The cooling garment canbe build in the chair and form the permanent chair cover not necessaryat the back rest but can be at the arm rest 43 as well.

In FIG. 5, an ice box or animal cage 50, having the containing body 51and lid 52, as shown. The cooling garment 53 is wrapped around thecontainer 50 to provide the cooling effect to the thing inside or toreduce the coolness loss to the higher temperature ambient outside.

Although certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention havebeen described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artto which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of thedescribed embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the inventionbe limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and theapplicable rules of law.

I claim:
 1. A portable personal cooling apparatus comprising:at leastone exterior surface of fibrous material having a fluid holding capacitysufficient to allow continuous evaporation of a fluid; at least onegenerally continuous interior surface of waterproof material adapted toavoid wetting of an object to be cooled from a fluid on the exteriorsurface; at least one fluid container disposed at an end of saidsurfaces in fluid communication with said exterior surface fordistributing the fluid to the fibrous material; at least one means forfluid collection disposed at an end of one of said surfaces forcollecting an accumulating unevaporated fluid; and means for movingfluid in the fluid collector to the fluid container, comprising at leastone fluid return line, wherein at least one of said fluid return linesfurther includes means for preventing fluid from flowing from the fluidcontainers to the fluid collectors.
 2. The portable personal coolingapparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus includes at least one bandaround each fluid collection means adapted to prevent the fluid fromdripping from the said apparatus.
 3. The portable personal coolingapparatus of claim 1, wherein said fluid container acts as a fluidcollector by capillary action when the fluid rises up to the wettedsurfaces.
 4. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim 1, whereinsaid apparatus includes means for feeding the wetted surface by gravityvia at least one fluid distribution line which allows the fluid to seepthrough at least one fluid opening along sides of the said line.
 5. Aportable personal cooling apparatus comprising:at least one exteriorsurface of fibrous material having a fluid holding capacity sufficientto allow continuous evaporation of a fluid; at least one generallycontinuous interior surface of waterproof material adapted to avoidwetting of an object to be cooled from a fluid on the exterior surface;at least one fluid container disposed at an end of said surfaces influid communication with said exterior surface for distributing thefluid to the fibrous material; at least one means for fluid collectiondisposed at an end of one of said surfaces for collecting anaccumulating unevaporated fluid; and at least one outside wall portionforming a band around each fluid collection means, adapted to preventthe fluid from overflowing from said apparatus.
 6. The portable personalcooling apparatus of claim 5, wherein said apparatus includes at leastone band around each fluid collection means adapted to prevent the fluidfrom dripping from the said apparatus.
 7. The portable personal coolingapparatus of claim 5, wherein said fluid container acts as a fluidcollector by capillary action when the fluid rises up to the wettedsurfaces.
 8. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim 5, whereinsaid apparatus includes means for feeding the wetted surface by gravityvia at least one fluid distribution line which allows the fluid to seepthrough at least one fluid opening along sides of the said line.
 9. Aportable personal human body cooling apparatus comprising:at least oneexterior surface of fibrous material having a fluid holding capacitysufficient to allow continuous evaporation of a fluid; at least oneinterior surface of waterproof material adapted to avoid wetting of abody to be cooled from a fluid on the exterior surface; at least onefluid container disposed at an end of said surfaces in fluidcommunication with said exterior surface for distributing the fluid tothe fibrous material; and means for returning unevaporated fluid to thefluid containers, comprising at least one fluid return line, wherein atleast one of said fluid return lines further includes means forpreventing reverse fluid flow from the fluid containers via said fluidreturn lines.
 10. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim 9,wherein said apparatus includes at least one means for fluid collectiondisposed at an end of one of said surfaces for collecting anaccumulating unevaporated fluid.
 11. The portable personal coolingapparatus of claim 10, wherein said apparatus includes at least oneoutside wall portion forming a band around each fluid collection means,adapted to prevent the fluid from overflowing from said apparatus. 12.The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim 9, wherein said fluidcontainer acts as a fluid collector by capillary action when the fluidrises up to the wetted surfaces.
 13. The portable personal coolingapparatus of claim 9, wherein said apparatus includes means for feedingthe wetted surface by gravity via at least one fluid distribution linewhich allows the fluid to seep through at least one fluid opening alongsides of said line.
 14. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim9, wherein said apparatus includes means for feeding the wetted surfacevia at least one fluid distribution line by capillary action whichallows the fluid to seep through at least one opening along sides ofsaid line.
 15. A portable personal human body cooling apparatuscomprising:at least one generally continuous exterior surface of fibrousmaterial having a fluid holding capacity sufficient to allow continuousevaporation of a fluid; at least one generally continuous interiorsurface of waterproof material adapted to avoid wetting of a body partto be cooled from a fluid on the exterior surface; at least one fluidcontainer disposed at an end of said surfaces in fluid communicationwith said exterior surface for distributing the fluid to the fibrousmaterial; and at least one means for fluid collection disposed at an endof one of said surfaces for collecting an accumulating unevaporatedfluid; means for moving fluid in the fluid collector to the fluidcontainer, comprising at least one fluid return line, wherein at leastone of said fluid return lines further includes means for preventingfluid from flowing from the fluid containers to the fluid collectors.16. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim 15, wherein saidfluid container acts as a fluid collector by capillary action when thefluid rises up to the wetted surfaces.
 17. The portable personal coolingapparatus of claim 15, wherein said apparatus includes means for feedingthe wetted surface by gravity via at least one fluid distribution linewhich allows the fluid to seep through at least one fluid opening alongsides of said line.
 18. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim15 wherein said apparatus includes means for feeding the wetted surfacevia at least one fluid distribution line by capillary action whichallows the fluid to seep through at least one opening along sides ofsaid line.
 19. A portable personal human body cooling apparatuscomprising:at least one generally continuous exterior surface of fibrousmaterial having a fluid holding capacity sufficient to allow continuousevaporation of a fluid; at least one generally continuous interiorsurface of waterproof material adapted to avoid wetting of a body partto be cooled from a fluid on the exterior surface; at least one fluidcontainer disposed at an end of said surfaces in fluid communicationwith said exterior surface for distributing the fluid to the fibrousmaterial; at least one means for fluid collection disposed at an end ofone of said surfaces for collecting an accumulating unevaporated fluid;and at least one outside wall portion forming a band around each fluidcollection means, adapted to prevent the fluid from overflowing fromsaid apparatus.
 20. The portable personal cooling apparatus of claim 19,wherein said fluid container acts as a fluid collector by capillaryaction when the fluid rises up to the wetted surfaces.
 21. The portablepersonal cooling apparatus of claim 19, wherein said apparatus includesmeans for feeding the wetted surface by gravity via at least one fluiddistribution line which allows the fluid to seep through at least onefluid opening along sides of said line.
 22. The portable personalcooling apparatus of claim 19, wherein said apparatus includes means forfeeding the wetted surface via at least one fluid distribution line bycapillary action which allows the fluid to seep through at least oneopening along sides of said line.